A Christian Approach to the Environment

Having Dominion

“A”, not “The”

Ideas

Actions

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faith

commerceenvironment

Christian

“Deliberately do at least one foolish thing every year.”

creation

people self

God

creationGod

“pantheistic” Christianity1

creation

God

“deep green” Christianity2

creation

“utilitarian” Christianity

God

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“apocalyptic” Christianity

God

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God

“individualist” Christianity5

My chains are gone I've been set freeMy God my Savior has ransomed meAnd like a flood His mercy rainsUnending love amazing grace

Bless the Lord O my soulO my soulWorship His holy nameSing like never beforeO my soulI'll worship Your holy name

Lord I need You oh I need YouEv'ry hour I need YouMy one defense my righteousnessOh God how I need You

“accountable” Christianity

God

6

“The land is mine and you reside in my land as foreigners and strangers.”

Leviticus 25:23

“Everything under heaven belongs to me.”Job 41:11

The earth is the Lord’s, and everything in it.Psalm 24:1

…everything in heaven and earth is yours.Chronicles 29:11

All Biblical texts from the New International Version

• God owns all creation

Then God said, “Let us make mankind in our image, in our likeness, so that they may rule over the fish in the sea and the birds in the sky, over the livestock and all the wild animals, and over all the creatures that move along the ground.”

Genesis 1: 26

• God gives human beings responsibility for His creation• God owns all creation

ר7ד7ה radah

have dominion (KJV)

When your king takes the throne of his kingdom, he is to write for himself on a scroll a copy of this law.…It is to be with him, and he is to read it all the days of his life so that he may learn to revere the Lord his God and follow carefully all the words of this law.

Deuteronomy 17:18-19

• Any authority God gives humans comes with accountability• God gives human beings responsibility for His creation

• God owns all creation

If you fear the LORD and serve and obey him and do not rebel against his commands, and if both you and the king who reigns over you follow the LORD your God—good! But if you do not obey the LORD, and if you rebel against his commands, his hand will be against you, as it was against your ancestors.

1 Samuel 12:14-15

• Any authority God gives humans comes with accountability• God gives human beings responsibility for His creation

• God owns all creation

Then Nathan said to David, “…Why did you despise the word of the Lord?...The sword will never depart from your house, because you despised me and took the wife of Uriah the Hittite to be your own….Because by doing this you have shown utter contempt for the Lord, the son born to you will die.”

2 Samuel 12:7-14

• Any authority God gives humans comes with accountability• God gives human beings responsibility for His creation

• God owns all creation

prophetrebuk

esruler

Elijah Ahab 1 Kings 18:16-18

“a prophet”

Ahab 1 Kings 20:42

Jehu Jehoshaphat 2 Chronicles 19:1-2

Isaiah “the elders and leaders”

Isaiah 3:14-15

Jeremiah Jehoiakim Jeremiah 35-36

Micah

“you leaders of Jacob, you rulers of Israel”

Micah 3:1-4

• Any authority God gives humans comes with accountability• God gives human beings responsibility for His creation

• God owns all creation

Jesus said, “You know that those who are regarded as rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them….Not so with you.”

‐ Mark 10: 42-43

• Any authority God gives humans comes with accountability• God gives human beings responsibility for His creation

• God owns all creation

• entrusting wealth to servants‐ Matthew 25; Luke 19

• entrusting a vineyard to tenants‐ Mark 12; Matthew 21

parablesof accountability

• Any authority God gives humans comes with accountability• God gives human beings responsibility for His creation

• God owns all creation

• Any authority God gives humans comes with accountability• God gives human beings responsibility for His creation

• God owns all creation

“Who then is the faithful and wise servant…?”‐ Matthew 24; Luke 12

God said, “Let the water teem with living creatures, and let birds fly above the earth across the vault of the sky.”…God blessed them and said, “Be fruitful and increase in number and fill the water in the seas, and let the birds increase on the earth.”

Genesis 1: 20, 22

How are we doing with our accountability?

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Northeast Atlantic cod catch

How are we doing with our accountability?

Ideas

Actions

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faith

commerceenvironment

Faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead....Was not our father Abraham considered righteous for what he did when he offered his son Isaac on the altar? You see that his faith and his actions were working together, and his faith was made complete by what he did.

‐ James 2:17-22

The world will judge our faith by our actions.

Jesus said, “Make a tree good and its fruit will be good, or make a tree bad and its fruit will be bad, for a tree is recognized by its fruit.”

‐ Matthew 12:33

The world will judge our faith by our actions.

Anglican Articles of Religion

1562